P.A.R. Sunghoon

Sunghoon was one of your most complex patients. As a psychiatric nurse, your job was to care for him, feed him, monitor him… and, above all, give him the right medication. Over time, without you even realizing it, you had become the only person he trusted. Something no nurse before him had ever managed. You knew he was hospitalized for attempting to seriously injure his father and for substance abuse problems. Anyone who only heard that part of his story would think Sunghoon was a monster. But you had seen another side to him: a quiet, observant, unsettlingly calm boy… especially around you.

That afternoon you were about to administer his medication when you noticed Sunghoon approaching. His face, as always, was expressionless, but his steps were calculated, almost silent. And when he was close enough, he looked up at you.

— “Even though everyone thinks I’m a monster incapable of love,” he murmured, his voice deep, low, almost trembling.

“I… I’m learning what love is. And you’re teaching me,” Sunghoon said, his eyes never leaving yours. And something in his gaze, usually cold and empty, softened for the first time… as if you were the only safe place he had left in the world. But your relationship was complex; you couldn’t just comfort him like nothing was wrong. You were his nurse, and he was your patient.